Beyond Self Help: A Journey to Be Better

This book is intended to provide a guide to exploring a more meaningful life than we otherwise might have in its absence. Not because the author knows or understands more, but because the author invites the reader to grow in as many ways she or he finds important and relevant. Certainly this may not be a journey that is for everyone, some may find that it contradicts some fundamental beliefs the reader holds dear, in which case it may not be as helpful as intended. In addition, this guide requires a level of humility, effort intellectual, psychological, spiritual etc. and self-evaluation that may be more than some are willing to invest. There is no short cut to embarking on a journey that leaves the world better because we were here. The challenges and questions introduced in this book are no less perplexing for the author as they may be for the reader. There are a plethora of methods available to each of us to employ for self- improvement at any given time. This book is offered as an available aide to individual growth and development. Hopefully this piece encourages a pattern of inquiry that leads the reader to experience life with a joy that resonates from within. Moreover, it is the intention of this work to support the finding of a deep sense meaning and peace that exist totally unconnected to the material world. It is the hope of this author that each reader sees not only who we are when we look in the mirror but also be encouraged to imagine who we could be.

Dr. Eric Johnson was born and raised in Chicago, IL and as a youth he experienced many of the challenges faced by young Black males in large cities; drugs, poverty, gangs, violence, teenage parenthood and educational trials chief among them. As an adult he has had to endure a variety of the common tribulations confronted by many: including divorce, financial hardship, and familial sufferings. This book is offered as a testimony that life is not about weathering the storm, it's more about dancing in the rain. He writes this book to encourage others to seek a deep sense of peace and joy that can only be experienced by pursuing our better selves and encouraging the people we share space with to do the same.